


A Simple Man

by thehoyden



Category: Bleach
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2010-01-05
Updated: 2010-01-05
Packaged: 2017-10-05 20:39:39
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,656
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/45839
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/thehoyden/pseuds/thehoyden
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>As a general rule, Ikkaku thought it was better to have uncomplicated wants.</p>
            </blockquote>





	A Simple Man

As a general rule, Ikkaku thought it was better to have uncomplicated wants. Setting the bar of expectations low, some might say, but years on the road with Yumichika had taught Ikkaku to appreciate food that wasn't rotten, a place to sleep that wasn't likely to expose you to the elements or get you killed, and the occasional company in bed that you didn't have to pay for.

Gradually, he'd added to the list, and it had come to include nights like these, sitting around with a bunch of guys that he knew would have his back when the inevitable bar fight broke out, and in the meantime would drink good booze and tell stories that got bigger with each retelling.

"And then," Renji said expansively, "she said, 'Yeah, but what about your _other_ release?'" The group laughed, mostly because they'd all had a few, and the story got more stupidly funny every time Renji told it.

Ikkaku could see Kira heading back toward their table with more drinks, weaving fluidly around groups of people on his way back to the table. A big guy stepped in front of him, and although Ikkaku couldn't hear what was being said, he knew a sleazy come-on when he saw one.

He was just about to get up when Yumichika placed a hand on his arm. "Let him deal with it," Yumi said firmly.

Ikkaku clearly wasn't the only one itching to get up -- Hisagi was halfway out of his seat when Yumichika pinned him with a glare. "Sit down, Hisagi-san -- or don't you trust your friend enough to deal with one drunken suitor?"

Hisagi sat down again, after giving one dark look at Yumichika before returning to watching Kira.

It looked like things were rapidly going downhill, because the stranger was starting to look pissed off, and Kira looked disdainful. And then things happened fast -- the big lug sucker punched Kira, who rocked back with the impact before straightening and decking the guy with one smooth right hook. And then he picked up the tray of drinks he'd put down earlier, and came back to the table, cool as you please. Everyone clapped him casually on the back like they hadn't been all thinking of running to his rescue just moments before, and the stories started up again as though nothing had happened.

As Kira licked the small trickle of blood from the corner of his mouth, Ikkaku experienced a sharp moment of regret that Kira was about as far from uncomplicated as they came.

***

Ikkaku had done the dating thing a few times, enough to know that it wasn't as easy as Yumichika made it look. Then again, Yumi never asked anyone out -- they all asked him, usually within five minutes of meeting him.

"I feel stupid," he groused to Yumi the next day. "What the hell do I say, 'You're really hot when you beat up guys who hit on you'?"

Yumichika blinked at that, and then put his head down on his desk and laughed so hard he nearly cried.

"I'm serious!" Ikkaku protested. "Yumi, you asshole, you're supposed to _help_ me, here."

Yumichika gave one last hiccuping laugh before he said, "Whatever you do, don't ask him out in front of Hisagi and Renji. They both think Kira's a little...fragile at the moment."

Which brought Ikkaku back to his original point -- Kira was complicated, and he wasn't going to stop being complicated just because Ikkaku couldn't get the image of Kira licking his mouth out of his mind. "I'm so screwed," he muttered.

***

Ikkaku generally liked being underestimated. If people thought he was a big neanderthal who couldn't solve problems without a fist or a sword, they'd obviously never tried to put Yachiru to bed and lived to tell the tale. Ikkaku could be resourceful and clever, when necessary.

The thing with Kira was, Ikkaku didn't really know much about him. Sure, he hung out with the fellas sometimes, and Ikkaku knew he went through a rough patch when Ichimaru skipped town. Ikkaku knew some people were still whispering about Kira, saying it was his fault, but Ikkaku understood that kind of loyalty. Hell, what would he have done if Zaraki had ordered him to do what Kira had done? Well, in the first place, Zaraki wouldn't have ordered anything of the sort, which was what made Ikkaku so loyal in the first place, but still, if one considered the situation philosophically -- there was a lot to say about that kind of persevering loyalty, even if the object of said loyalty had been a scum-faced bastard.

He'd had some professional dealings with Kira over the years, seeing as neither Yachiru nor Zaraki were much for paperwork, and _someone_ had to do it. Kira was usually punctual and well-organized, unless Ichimaru was hanging all over him and distracting him. He was firm with his subordinates but not crazy about it, not the type to revel in his authority.

So he knew things about Kira, but sadly, nothing that would really help him in his current dilemma. And he really didn't know anything about Kira's opinions of eleventh division loudmouths who _may_ had called him a pansy, back before Ikkaku knew how hot Kira looked when he was decking a guy.

"Hey, you got a minute?" Ikkaku asked the third division's third seat, Maeda, as he pushed away from where he was leaning against the wall.

Maeda blinked "Yessir. What can I do for you?"

Ikkaku put a companionable arm around Maeda's shoulder and steered them around the corner. "Your vice-captain -- what's he do on his off hours?"

Maeda's brow furrowed. "Vice-Captain Kira? Uh. He used to do Captain's paperwork."

Ikkaku rolled his eyes. "No, I mean his _off_ hours."

Maeda tried to squirm away. "Seriously, that's what he did. I mean, sometimes he went out with Vice-Captains Abarai and Hisagi, but mostly he worked."

Ikkaku frowned. That wasn't much help. "Any hobbies?"

"I...I think he likes to play Go," Maeda said slowly. "I think I saw him carrying a board a couple of times."

"Go, huh?" Ikkaku said. He cracked his neck. "I can work with that."

***

Kira answered his door in a yukata, clearly having been ready to go to bed. "Ikkaku? Is something wrong?" he asked, looking surprised to see him.

Ikkaku shifted his weight from one foot to the other. "Nah, I just -- you up for a game of Go?"

Kira's eyebrows went up. "I -- I didn't know you played Go," he said.

Ikkaku figured that was as good an opening as he was likely to get. "Lots you don't know about me. Whaddya say? Just one game to round off the night?"

Kira was still looking shocked, but he backed away from the door and waved Ikkaku in.

"'Scuse the intrusion," Ikkaku said, toeing off his sandals in the entryway. "You got a board and everything?"

"Over here," Kira said, and led them to his living area, sliding open a closet door and dragging out a goban -- the fancy kind, with sturdy legs and polished wood. He took out stones in their containers as well, setting them neatly on the goban. Behind the curtain of his hair, he asked curiously, "Do you play often?"

"Here and there," Ikkaku said. "Hard to find an opponent in the eleventh who isn't Yumi or doesn't cheat."

Kira let out of a breath of air that might have been a laugh. "Well. I suppose that's true." He knelt across from Ikkaku, who preferred to sit more casually, one knee drawn up to drum his fingers against.

After they laid down the first few stones, Ikkaku surprised himself by really getting into the game. For one thing, Kira was _good_ \-- probably to be expected from the vice-captain of the division that specialized in tactical operations. And sure, maybe letting Kira win would improve his chances of getting Kira into bed, but Ikkaku just couldn't see giving Kira any less than he was given. Kira deserved a fair, honest game, and Ikkaku was determined to give it to him.

Later on in the game, Kira said quietly, "Isn't it about time you resigned?"

Ikkaku looked up in surprise. "I'm not even close to losing. Why would I resign?"

Kira's lips tightened into an angry line. "Look, I don't know who put you up to this -- Abarai-kun, Hisagi-sempai, whoever -- but I don't need your pity. You don't need to come here and offer me a game just because you feel sorry for me."

Ikkaku's mouth opened and shut a few times, before he said, "Feel _sorry_ for you? Is that what you think this is about?"

Kira turned his head and looked at the floor. "What else could this be? You've never gone out of your way to spend time with me before. I just thought..."

"What?" Ikkaku asked.

Kira looked him straight in the eye. "I expected better of you. I thought you were more honest than this, Ikkaku."

Ikkaku stared at him. "More honest? I mean, I admit to having what you might call ulterior motives, but it wasn't feeling sorry for you or nothin.'"

That brought Kira up short. "Ulterior motives?" he said, a little too incredulously for Ikkaku's ego.

"Sure," Ikkaku said easily. "I can have ulterior motives. I can like a good game of Go -- which, by the way, I haven't lost yet, just in case you were wondering."

Kira stared at him, and hell, Kira might have looked damn good after a little fight, but he looked pretty fine now too, pale skin and pale hair illuminated by the lamplight.

"You look nice in that yukata," Ikkaku offered, figuring he might as well stop beating around the bush.

Kira looked down at his robe, as though he'd forgotten he was wearing it. And when he looked up again, his expression was one of disbelief and maybe just a little hope. "Are you hitting on me?"

Ikkaku slid the goban out of the way. "That a problem? 'Cause I gotta tell you, you look pretty hot roughing up other guys, but I'm okay with skipping that part."

He'd expected a few different things to happen after that, but he hadn't really expected Kira to pounce. And when Ikkaku's shoulders hit the floor with Kira's warm body in his arms, he grinned and thanked heaven for complicated men like Kira Izuru.

***

Ikkaku had always figured there was no sense in getting all fancy the first time around -- if you nailed the basics, you could save that stuff for later. Right now, the important thing was finding out what Kira liked, and running with it.

Kira liked kissing just fine, gave a nice little sigh when Ikkaku nibbled on his ears, but went absolutely _nuts_ when Ikkaku started kissing his neck. Ikkaku smiled against Kira's skin as he pushed the yukata collar away and licked at the skin revealed, and when Kira shuddered in his arms, Ikkaku knew he was on the right track. One of Kira's hands was playing at the nape of Ikkaku's neck, the other was fisted in the pillow of the futon that Kira had insisted they move to. Which, Kira had a point -- if you had a decent bed, you might as well use it. Especially if it got him Kira spread out on his back, cradling Ikkaku's hips between his thighs.

"_Oh_," Kira moaned when Ikkaku sucked at his collarbone and brushed callused fingertips over his nipples at the same time. "I -- let me, let me--"

"Anything you want," Ikkaku murmured against his skin.

"Too many clothes," Kira said, pulling at Ikkaku's black gi.

Ikkaku knelt up and impatiently shrugged out of his top, and Kira was trying to help with the obi, only his hands kept wandering and then Ikkaku was the one gasping as Kira traced the shape and feel of his erection through the rough cloth of his hakama. And hell, he didn't know how anyone could think Kira was emotionally fragile, not when he was looking at Ikkaku with those eyes, slowly jerking Ikkaku off through his clothing. Ikkaku slid his hand up Kira's thigh, opening up the yukata as he went, until he could take the warm weight of Kira's cock in his hand and stroke just as he was being stroked.

Eventually Ikkaku shivered and pulled his hand away from Kira to discard his own obi, unwinding it and throwing it aside, undoing the ties of his hakama with a few practiced motions before letting the cloth fall from his hips. "What do you want?" he asked Kira, his voice rough.

Kira licked his lips, and said, "Come up here and turn around."

Ikkaku stepped out of his hakama and knelt around Kira's head, stretching out along Kira's body until he could grasp Kira's ass and bring his mouth down to Kira's cock. He felt Kira run his hands up Ikkaku's thighs as he licked at the head of Ikkaku's cock, before taking it further in and making Ikkaku gasp around Kira's cock in turn.

Ikkaku liked be able to concentrate, but he was all right with this too, because there was something about the heat and the sucking and the feedback loop of sensation that was almost overwhelmingly good -- when he did something particularly well, Kira moaned around Ikkaku's cock, and that in turn made Ikkaku groan and move his head a little faster, made him suck a little harder around the head of Kira's erection, starting the whole chain reaction over again. And then it really was too much, Kira was too good, too clever with his tongue and lips and Ikkaku tried not to thrust down too hard, pulled his mouth off Kira's cock to warn him, but Kira grabbed his hips and held him still, drinking Ikkaku down as he shuddered through his orgasm.

Ikkaku panted against Kira's abdomen for a moment, before gingerly lifting himself off and settling himself between Kira's thighs again. And when he wrapped his hand around Kira's cock again, stroking him firmly and quickly, and brought his mouth up to Kira's balls, licking and lapping and sucking gently, Kira nearly came off the bed -- and some things, Ikkaku reflected, weren't so complicated after all.

***

Kira didn't kick him out the next morning. Or the morning after that. And when they went for their usual night out with the fellas, Kira wasn't acting like nothing was different -- he sat next to Ikkaku, and even told a few stories of his own, and didn't shrug Ikkaku off when Ikkaku put a casual arm around Kira's waist.

Meanwhile, Hisagi and Renji were looking at Ikkaku's casual arm-around-the-waist like it was a mutant growth.

The minute Kira had headed off to the bar to get the next round of drinks, Hisagi and Renji were leaning closer over the table, doing their best to look threatening. Ikkaku wasn't too impressed -- it was nothing compared to the time he told Yumi that he thought that orange was maybe not his best color.

"What the hell are you doing with Kira?" Renji growled.

Ikkaku held his hands up placatingly. "Treatin' him with honor and respect, I swear. And if it doesn't work out, you can beat the crap out of me, if Kira doesn't get there first."

"Really, Hisagi-san, don't you trust Kira to deal with _one_ boneheaded suitor?" Yumichika drawled. "I can even vouch for this one -- it's true that he's a simple man, but his heart's in the right place."

"Who're you calling 'simple'?" Ikkaku protested.

Kira came back with the drinks at that moment, possibly saving Ikkaku from a diatribe courtesy of Yumichika. And when he smiled and slid into Ikkaku's one-armed embrace, Ikkaku thought this could be the start of something pretty damn good. And maybe, after all, wanting Kira was actually pretty simple -- it was everything else that was going to make life interesting.


End file.
